The Kobe Kobelco Steelers missed out on a golden opportunity to keep pace with the Top League leaders on Saturday, losing 38-24 to the NEC Green Rockets. The inaugural Top League champions (in the 2003-04 campaign) came into this Round 9 game at Prince ...

A try from Ricoh rookie Shuhei Matsuhashi — his third of the day — seconds before the final hooter handed the Black Rams a 33-28 win over Toshiba Brave Lupus on Sunday in the Japan Rugby Top League. The 22-year-old No. 8, who is ...

Yamaha Jubilo and Suntory Sungoliath maintained their unbeaten runs Saturday and made it even more likely their Christmas Eve clash will determine this season’s Top League champion. Yamaha was forced to work very hard to beat NTT Communications Shining Arcs 21-17, while Suntory had ...

It was “30-something” day at Kumagaya Sports and Culture Park on Sunday as Panasonic Wild Knights topped Coca-Cola Red Sparks 45-12 in the Japan Rugby Top League. The pregame talk had been about the up-and-coming and future Brave Blossoms on display such as Kenki ...

Yamaha Jubilo showed Sunday why they remain most people’s favorites to lift the Top League crown at the end of the season. Katsuyuki Kiyomiya’s side ran in eight tries as it beat Kubota Spears 53-0 to make it six straight wins to start the ...

Suntory Sungoliath came from behind on an electric try by man-of-the-match Kotaro Matsushima, and two tries by Takaaki Nakazuru ensured a 37-22 Japan Rugby Top League victory over Canon Eagles on Sunday. Trailing 17-13 at the break, Sungoliath withstood some sustained pressure at the ...

Panasonic Wild Knights’ hopes of making it four straight Top League titles took a big hit Saturday at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground as they fell to their second defeat of the season. Another poor day in the tight by the Panasonic pack was ...

Isaac Ross may not have played for his country since 2009 but he showed Friday just why New Zealand is revered as the best rugby nursery in the world and the All Blacks one of the most successful teams in sports. The NTT Communications ...

Masakatsu Hikosaka scored a brace of tries as Toyota Verblitz beat Kubota Spears 27-10 in the Top League on Sunday. Playing at Sapporo’s Tsukisamu Stadium, Verblitz took the early lead on a seventh-minute Takaya Monji penalty, but South African Grant Hattingh dove over to ...

There was a familiar face at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground on Saturday as Eddie Jones watched his old club Suntory Sungoliath beat Honda Heat 50-0 for their second straight win of the new Top League season. The current England coach, who has a ...

Toshiba Brave Lupus hung on by their skin of their teeth to open their 2016-17 Top League campaign with a 22-19 win over Kubota Spears on Saturday night. Last season’s runners-up seemed to have the game sewn up when Keisuke Masuda went over in ...

Yamaha Jubilo exposed a huge chink in defending champion Panasonic Wild Knights’ armor Friday night as the new Top League season got underway at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground. The Yamaha pack demolished the Panasonic scrum and the dominance up front laid the foundations ...